KCSU FM and RamEvents collaborated for the fourth year in a row to bring local music talent and competition to Colorado State University with their annual Battle of the Bands competition.
Established in 2021, Battle of the Bands brings four local music ensembles to the Sutherland Community Garden space to duel off. The winner, voted on by attendees, will be invited to play a gig at the 2026 FoCoMX music festival: Fort Collins’ largest music event that features over 350 live music acts each year in the spring.
“This is our annual student-run Battle of the Bands, so all of the bands are students,” said KCSU station manager Pat Matthews. “It’s going great this year. The bands that have turned out have been awesome contenders.”
The contest featured four local bands: The Hyms, Third Turn, NoKay and Jolo.
“We do another concert in the spring called Fools Fest, which is definitely more of a punk vibe, so we tried to keep things a bit softer this time around,” Matthews said. “All of the bands submitted submission tapes this time around, and we did some review and made the call, but we tried to keep it jazzy and a little blues-rock.”
“I think it’s really important for local music, especially with how everything has been institutionalized. I think supporting small artists is important, as well as uplifting the Fort Collins community as a whole. I think it’s really important what we’re doing.” -Ashenafi Paulo, RamEvents lead event programmer
Sponsorship for Battle of the Bands included the Fort Collins Music Association — the organization behind FoCoMX.
“A big part of this event is the participation from the Fort Collins Musicians Associations and their big FoCoMx event in the spring,” Matthews said. “The whole concept of a local band getting guaranteed a spot really is a fantastic grand prize for the event and really can help a local musician get themselves off the ground.”
RamEvents partners with KCSU to grant the winning band a cash prize of $300, in addition to the grand prize of a FoCoMX performance slot.
“I think it’s really important for local music, especially with how everything has been institutionalized,” said Ashenafi Paulo, RamEvents lead event programmer. “I think supporting small artists is important, as well as uplifting the Fort Collins community as a whole. I think it’s really important what we’re doing.”
Part of the event’s purpose was to bring local music and new sound to students and attendees.
“Before I started here, I had no real knowledge of the local music scene at all, so it’s brought me to a lot more of the local scene, and it’s why I’m here now,” said Jesse Aguilar, KCSU DJ. “I’d never heard of any of these bands before, and I’m excited to see them do their thing.”
KCSU’s Andrew Di Tirro, local music director, spearheaded a lot of the efforts to bring local and new music to CSU each year.
“My job is essentially anything pertaining to local music outreach,” Di Tirro said. “Predominantly, it’s bringing local music into the station, local being anything in Colorado. For a town of this size, (the music scene) is immensely well supported. … It’s important that we’ve got a ton of organizations and also a bit of money in this town that makes sure bands like this have a place to play and are able to support themselves playing their style.”
Battle of the Bands will return for their fifth annual performance in 2026.
“We help to get their music out there, which is wonderful to do,” said Aguilar.
Reach Allie Seibel at entertainment@collegian.com or on social media @allie_seibel_.
